Mohamed Ibrahim, Minister of Interior, blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for the deadly Cairo clashes on Saturday and denied officers had fired live rounds to break up its protest. They had however, suffered wounds from buckshot fired by protesters, said the minister. The police are investigating the disappearance of four police officers during the clashes. Some witnesses said they had been seized by Brotherhood supporters, disarmed and taken hostage.

According to Ibrahim, the officers used tear gas to disperse protesters on a bridge for fear it would collapse. He accused the pro-Morsi camp of exaggerating the number of casualties, which the health ministry put at 29 killed and 649 wounded.